14-plus years for Cuban ballplayer smuggler

The convicted ringleader of a smuggling organisation that brought more than 1,000 Cubans into the US, some of them baseball players including Texas Rangers outfielder Leonys Martin, was sentenced to more than 14 years in federal prison.

Miami: The convicted ringleader of a smuggling organisation that brought more than 1,000 Cubans into the US, some of them baseball players including Texas Rangers outfielder Leonys Martin, was sentenced to more than 14 years in federal prison.

US District Judge Joan Lenard rejected a request for leniency by Eliezer Lazo, whom she noted was paid USD 22,000 a month through the scheme not counting the percentages of any professional baseball contracts the players signed.

Prosecutors said yesterday Martin paid the Lazo group USD 1.2 million after signing with the Rangers in 2011.

Lazo, 41, will begin serving the sentence after finishing an unrelated five-year prison term for money laundering in a Medicare fraud case. In the smuggling case, he pleaded guilty in August to extortion conspiracy.

The Lazo organisation smuggled Cubans by boat to Mexico for USD 10,000 each, more for the baseball players, according to court documents. They would then usually travel to the US border crossing at Laredo, Texas, and ask to be permitted to stay in the US.

Under the US "wet foot, dry foot" policy, Cubans who reach dry land in the US are generally allowed to remain while those intercepted at sea are returned to the communist island. Lazo's attorney, William Clay, said many of Lazo's customers were overjoyed to make it to the U.S. Despite the costs.

But Assistant US Attorney Ron Davidson said migrants who couldn't pay were held for ransom by armed guards, often threatened and sometimes beaten. Although Lazo himself did not participate in any violence, Davidson said he was well aware it was going on.

The case also provided a glimpse into how Mexican drug cartels get their cut of the migrant smuggling business. Court documents show that in the Cancun area, the Zetas cartel charges Cuban smugglers USD 10,000 per boat and up to USD 3,000 per migrant to allow them to pass through their territory and assist in paying bribes to local officials.

No evidence surfaced in the case that Martin or any of the other valuable Cuban ballplayers were mistreated. Only Martin has been identified by name in the Lazo case, but other Cuban stars such as Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig have also been smuggled through Mexico.

Martin, a speedy outfielder, signed a five-year, USD 15.5 million contract with the Rangers in 2011.

Clay indicated he may appeal Lazo's sentence, calling it "unreasonable" because Lazo offered to cooperate with investigators before he was indicted and had only a limited role in the extortion. For his part, Lazo apologised for his crimes through a Spanish interpreter.